WEEKLY SUMMARY FOR 14TH MAY 2017

WEEKLY SUMMARY FOR 14TH MAY 2017

In class we did the letter F. F stands for Friend. Children talked about their best friend and shared what that friend did for them. We focussed on how we should treat our friends and had three take-home messages. Firstly, we should talk sweetly and softly to them; Secondly we should learn to encourage them and be nice to them by saying “Well Done” to compliment them; Thirdly we should be ready to help them even when they do not ask for it. To understand the third point better, children listened to the story of Krishna and Sudhama’s friendship. Krishna loved and respected Sudhama who was his childhood friend. Poor Sudhama was struggling to feed his children but did not feel like asking his best friend Krishna who was the King of Dwaraka for help. But Krishna still ate the rice flakes that Sudhama gifted him with affection and showered Sudhama with gifts so he and his family could live happily.

Homework: To complete the Krishna-Sudhama colouring sheet; To share the story with family; To learn by-heart the first line of the pledge.

Junior Balavihar:

In continuation of our Ramayana story this week, children heard how Sita mata stopped Laksmana from killing the raksasis who were surrounding Her, as they were only obeying their king. Then, the raksasis helped Mother Sita dress up like a bride to meet Lord Rama. Dressed in fine jewels, She was taken in a palanquin. When She got there, Lord Rama put His hand out to welcome Sita. Sita had tears rolling down with mixed emotions – of all what she had gone through and victory at the end, Lord Rama was however stone-faced. He said to Sita, “I have performed the duty of a Kshatriya to liberate you from the evil Ravana. I am also a dharma (righteous) king. How can I accept you until you can prove you are pure.” Sita’s eyes burnt with angry fire at this unexpected. But, without losing Her composure, She asked Laksmana to arrange for a fire for Her to get into to prove She had done nothing wrong. As soon as She entered the fire, the God of Fire pulled Her out and said to Rama “Accept Sita as She has done nothing wrong. She is the purest.” This led into the discussion of how we are often tempted to watch TV or eat junk food when we know mum isn’t around. Much like Sita could have without Rama being around and the constant invitations by Ravana to the luxurious life in the palace. But She stuck to Her moral ground, continuing to live simply in Asoka Vatika. The strong character of Sita compared to that of our own mothers, calm and resilient. Being the occasion of Mother’s Day, children also created a special message card magnet for their mothers – “Matru devo bhavah” (Mother is like God).

Homework: To practise, during the week, not doing the bad quality we locked into the “Ravana Box.” To learn the whole pledge by heart.

Senior Balavihar

Revision of previous week’s lesson.

JuniorJCs:

This class once again focussed on the concept of discrimination of knowledge. We drew a cricket field and related it to this concept. The bowler represented the pressures of life. The batsmen represented us, using our bat of discrimination to hit different balls (pressures/problems) away. Just like a ball can be fast or slow or full-pitched or short-pitched, our problems are all different and need to be tackled in different ways. We use discrimination of knowledge to figure out how best to tackle each of these problems. Sometimes we fail and get out, but we can always learn from our mistakes and bat again in the next match. The stumps represent the body, mind and intellect. The fielders and spectators represent the additional stresses around us that we must ignore in order to successfully tackle the problem.

Sadhana: To write down three problems you faced, any stresses related to this problem, and how you went about tackling these problems.

Senior JCs:

We learnt from ‘passing a tennis ball’ activity that when the mind and intellect are not integrated we can still complete a task but there is confusion and importantly lack of efficiency. We agreed that in order to build inner strength, when one’s intellect makes a decision then the mind should put aside its likes and dislikes and intergrate with the intellect to perform the decision.

Sadhana: If you have made a decision, act upon it. Do not let your likes and dislikes distract you. And where possible make a note of the decision and whether it was acted upon or not.

Adults:

This week we studied Verse 21 of Chapter 10. Even after having heard the Lord’s teachings to Him all along, Arjuna is still not satisfied. He requests Krishna to tell him again, in detail, of His Yoga power and Immanent glory. Krishna patiently begins to explain in simple and understandable terms, His various glories and manifestations. Over twenty two stanzas, the Lord is trying to supply the seekers with seventy five items of thought to meditate upon and intensify their integration and sharpen their single-pointedness. These are in essence, seventy five exercises in meditation.

Sadhana: To contemplate on the following: “Among luminaries, I am the radiant Sun. Just as the Sun is the source of all energy, The Self in me is the source of all energy”.